StationBreak April 2015

Celebrating Poetry and Mathematics

April is National Poetry Month, Mathematics Awareness Month, and School Library Month. In this edition of StationBreak, we highlight many great resources for teaching about the various ways in which poetry, mathematics, and school libraries are important in the educational lives of students.

Featured resources this month include: professional development courses from the English Language Arts and Mathematics libraries; relevant AETN programming, such as the Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip series and the 30th anniversary of Arkansas Quiz Bowl; and relevant AETN PBS LearningMedia resource collections, which include lesson plans, media galleries, and videos you can use in your classroom.

April 1 - April Fools Day
April 2 - International Children's Book Day
April 4 - School Librarian Day
April 7 - Caramel Popcorn Day
April 8 - Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
April 13 - Scrabble Day
April 14 - Reach as High as You Can Day
April 15 - Rubber Eraser Day
April 16 - National Librarian Day

April 17 - Global Youth Service Day
April 20 - Look Alike Day
April 21 - Kindergarten Day
April 22 - Earth Day & National Jelly Bean Day
April 23 - Shakespeare's Birthday
April 24 - Arbor Day
April 25 - World Penguin Day
April 27 - Tell a Story Day
April 28 - Great Poetry Reading Day

StationBreak informs you about upcoming AETN programming, professional development opportunities from ArkansasIDEAS, and educational resources from AETN and AETN PBS LearningMedia.

News from the Arkansas Educational Television Network

PBS KIDS Writers Contest
The AETN PBS KIDS Writers Contest encourages children in grades K-3 to celebrate their creativity by submitting their own original stories and illustrations. Entries are judged on originality, creative expression, storytelling, and integration of text and illustrations. Each entrant will receive a participation certificate, and 12 winners - three from each grade - will receive an AETN prize pack. For contest rules and additional information, including brainstorming activities to help your children get started, visit aetn.org/writerscontest.

Annenberg Media: Write in the Middle: Teaching Poetry (1.5)
Workshop three follows two master teachers - Vivian Johnson, who teaches eighth grade, and Jack Wilde, a fifth grade teacher - as they help their students develop as readers and writers of poetry. The workshop begins midway through Johnson's five-week poetry unit as she introduces a lesson on line breaks to her students. Wilde is using a published poem to teach his fifth grade students about writing poetry. After the students read and analyze the poem, Wilde gives them a topic and has them practice writing stanzas modeled after the exemplar to combine into a class poem. The workshop also features excerpts from a conversation between Wilde and Johnson and from an interview with Tom Romano, author ofClearing the Way: Working with Teenage Writers.

ASCD: Literacy Strategies: Mathematics (2)
This course explains why it's important for every teacher to become involved in teaching students how to read, write, and comprehend the subject matter being presented to them, with a focus on strategies for teaching mathematics. Participants will explore the common misperception that a lack of reading skills is the root of failure in content-area courses.

These professional development resources and more can be found at ideas.aetn.org.

AETN Programing

The Colonial Williamsburg Electronic Field Trip Series

Since 1995, Colonial Williamsburg has produced award-winning educational programs, known as electronic field trips, which combine live broadcasts with online classroom resources. This is a very popular and free viewing experience that is also available via live stream. Additionally, a number of related downloadable PDFs and other documents are available on the website for classroom use.

High school students from across the state will showcase their intellect in the annual Arkansas Governor's Academic Competition at AETN Saturday, April 25, in "Arkansas Quiz Bowl 2015."

"Quiz Bowl 2015" marks the 30th anniversary of this academic showdown. The finals will involve seven conferences for a total of 14 teams and will be broadcast in two parts - 9 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 4 p.m.

"Quiz Bowl" is a celebration and recognition of scholarship that has been an AETN tradition since 1985. In a series of questions, players must display their knowledge in literature, math, science, history, art, music and economics. Teams from across the state compete for the chance to represent the Natural State in national tournaments. All games are broadcast from AETN, and scholarship money will be awarded.

The Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association holds regional tournaments around the state during March. Teams are assigned to a site, and a random drawing places the teams on the pairing schedule. A percentage of teams in the tournament advance to the state tournament. The top two teams from each classification advance to the State Conference Finals.

News from AETN PBS LearningMedia

AETN PBS LearningMedia has been updated with a new interface featuring a new student learning portal and a suite of productivity tools for teachers. Be sure to check it out!

The Algebra of a Bungee Jump - The Ignite Show - Media Gallery
Students will apply an algebraic equation to the real life experience of bungee jumping in this engaging lesson. They are given the challenge to design an egg bungee jump with rubber bands and a plastic bag. They will predict the number of rubber bands required for a 16-foot-high bungee egg drop off of their school stadium bleachers. 2008 California State Teacher of the Year, Lewis Chappelear, shares his advice for implementing this lesson in your classroom. GRADES 9-13+

Library Field Trip - VPK - Video
Going to the library is like going on a treasure hunt. There are books, computers, DVDs, audio books, and so much more. Plus, it's all free! Join Penny and the KidVision VPK kids as they play in the children's area, learn how to put books in alphabetical order, and find their favorites to check out. GRADES PREK-3

Poetry Everywhere Collection - Poetry Everywhere - Collection
Explore the power of language, look at the world with a fresh sense of wonder, and build reading and writing skills. These video segments, drawn from the PBS Poetry Everywhere series, capture some of the voices of poetry, past and present. GRADES 7-12

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